


Lace Speculation

by Schnikeys_Discuss (Schnikeys)



Series: Clockie's Meta [32]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Analysis, Archived from radioactivesupersonic Blog, Character Analysis, Gen, Nonfiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schnikeys/pseuds/Schnikeys_Discuss
Summary: "Honestly, thinking about it, I’m intrigued to see what side of the fence Lace ultimately falls on."
Series: Clockie's Meta [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974223
Kudos: 2





	Lace Speculation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ClockworkRainbow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworkRainbow/gifts).



Honestly, thinking about it, I’m intrigued to see what side of the fence Lace ultimately falls on.

So far, the clearest piece of information for her is that she’ll “delight in causing Hornet’s swift, skewered end” but, there’s a fairly good question, to me, if Lace has anything to do with the cult that kidnapped Hornet in the first place.

It’s honestly entirely possible that Lace is to Hornet what Hornet was to Ghost in the first game- because Hornet also _did_ start the game completely willfully trying to kill Ghost, but that was because she had reason to believe Ghost was there to kickstart Hallownest’s new apocalypse by unsealing the Pure Vessel and by connection the Radiance. A concern the Dreamers shared, so not an unreasonable one.

I feel like there’s implications that Pharloom has some history with Herrah, and, also, that Pharloom is plagued by a god or gods one way or another (with the most overt hand seeming to be the cult). The most benevolent read on Lace is that she’s aware of the situation and is attempting damage control- Hornet’s ascent might prove a _problem_ and the most reliable way to keep Hornet from the summit is to kill her.

Even then, the bio suggests there’s a certain vindictive edge to Lace. In the trailer, she seems to giggle when striking at Hornet, and the wording of the bio makes it clear even if she is attacking Hornet out of a sense of duty, she’s certainly not _apologetic_ about it. I think that ‘more benevolent’ read is likely, though, because as dark as Hollow Knight is as a game, it’s not very big on pitting _people_ against you directly as enemies. Radiance is the only real decisive antagonist of the first game, and, she spends most of said game operating as a _force_ rather than as an opponent who can be challenged. Even identifying her as the heart of the plague before she’s duly revealed is hard.

Now, Silksong could be boldly departing from Hollow Knight in that sense, but until there’s more evidence to support that read, I’m guessing Lace is not Silksong’s main antagonist, or a major _threat_ , which could mean that she’s due to end up an ally of Hornet’s.

This could be very fun if it happens, because the implication of Lace’s personality means they might not get along even if they see eye to eye. Hornet, from what we’ve seen, is duty-bound to a certain rather humorless degree. She tends to consider most things a _serious obligation_. Lace, again, probably has a reason for doing what she is, but she also seems to be having fun- enjoying her pursuit of Hornet.

And it’s likely Hornet’s going to be seriously _not in the dang mood_ considering Sharpe and his assassin team _and_ the cult. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Lace is the one who hired Sharpe, but it would raise the question of why it is then that she’d take matters into her own hands.

* * *

Just, if Lace is a ‘kingdom protector’ in a role similar to Hornet but who’s either had a good life, or, more likely, had kind of a bad life and decided to hell with it, she’s gonna indulge herself, she may not have a real choice in this gig (or it’s a “are you okay letting everyone else die y/n” kind of choice) but she can take her sweet time, that might create some interesting conflicts and potential beefs with Hornet who’s a princess who never seems to have had a whole lot of pampering. 

The only thing we can find in the base game that Deepnest willfully set aside for her was the Weaversong which almost seems more pitying than favoring- it’s specifically an offering of protection and companionship for someone perceived as lonely.

Team Cherry said in the reveal video that the quest journal is somewhat plot-relevant as Hornet positioning herself as someone fulfilling others’ wishes, so Silksong would seem to pluck at some of the same narrative threads that Hollow Knight does about duty and that relationship as a burden. It would further it interestingly if Lace, who certainly _seems_ to be a major character and rival to Hornet, has a very different relationship to the idea of duty than Hornet does, since Hornet talks about inheriting the burden of the future in Herrah’s bedchamber.

**Author's Note:**

> Analyses originally found here:  
> <https://radioactivesupersonic.tumblr.com/post/184356832510/honestly-thinking-about-it-im-intrigued-to-see>  
> <https://radioactivesupersonic.tumblr.com/post/184357176285/just-if-lace-is-a-kingdom-protector-in-a-role>


End file.
